E-cigarettes are handheld electronic devices that vaporize flavoured liquid which contains nicotine, propylene glycol and glycerine. A report out of the UK suggests that vaping is 95% less harmful than smoking tobacco cigarettes and many have switched to vaping to quit smoking.

It’s considered a harm reduction tool, so why would the public generally believe that e-cigarettes are as unhealthy and harmful as smoking tobacco?

There’s no combustion related to vaping, which is the most harmful thing about cigarettes but despite this and other factors, the Canadian government generally treats e-cigarettes and tobacco cigarettes the same when it comes to legislation and regulations.

A report from the Canadian Constitution Foundation outlines problems with such legislation which include things like broad policies that ignore the benefits of e-cigarettes vs. tobacco smoking, interfering with a person’s right to make healthier choices and not allowing users to sample products in vape shops. It then makes recommendations that would improve regulations.

Report author Derek From says 40,000 people die annually from smoking related illnesses at a cost of $17B to our healthcare system. He believes vaping is an effective, consumer driven harm reduction tool created by the free market that could largely solve this epidemic.

He also notes that the federal government’s Bill S5 will limit the right of Canadians to access testimonials and life saving scientific information plus, includes a host of prohibitions on activities that could help lead people to make a healthier choice.

The Bill was introduced in the Senate in November of 2016 and is awaiting Royal Assent.

Comments

That was an excellent report. Current government policy is driven by input from the lobbyists for useless smoking cessation drugs and nicotine substitutes. Big Pharma is terrified of vaping because they know how ineffective their products are in comparison. Estimates I have seen for nicotine gum, substitutes, patches, and pills are about a 5% success rate long term when not accompanied with intensive therapy.

Yet pushing these unproven snake oil remedies is a multibillion dollar industry. Even worse, they fund and promote studies in universities based their bogus products in combination with therapies to the exclusion of vaping. Then all the reports and studies that come out of universities end up supporting their products. Meanwhile, there are currently no vaping product companies funding research because the incentive for them to do that isn’t there. Vaping products do not command the huge profit margins that smoking cessation drugs ftech.

I can also speak from personal experience. After smoking a pack a day for 50 years I eased into vaping beginning 3 years ago. There is a learning curve involved. I finally quit smoking two years ago, and though for the first year I occasionally smoked a cigarette, at this point it must be a month or two since I’ve had one. When or if I do smoke, it just doesn’t taste very good to me anymore or have much appeal.
Meanwhile, a year ago I reduced the nicotine level in my vaping juice to where it is supposed to be the equivalent of half a cigarette (6 mg/ml), but I feel no effect from it.